It was so far out of reach. No matter how hard I strained, it couldn’t be grasped. I needed help. The apple was just too far up on the tree.

Don’t you hate needing help? I know I do. It’s so much easier just to do things on your own. Finding help involves asking. Finding help involves a willing helper. And needing someone sounds way too dependent, and even children don’t like to be dependent.

So how does God expect me to reach the world with the glorious news of the Gospel? How am I supposed to grasp that task? Yeah, you’re right, there’s no way I’m reaching that. I, and we all, need help.

That’s where the church comes in. The church is God’s established community that exists to spread the Gospel, both through proclamation and living. But the church needs help as well. One church, and even all the Gospel-preaching churches that exist today, cannot reach the whole world. Why? Because new people are being born every day. Because there are those who do not understand the Gospel who will need to be told it when they can understand. And because everyone in the world’s population is still not within reach of a church.

And here’s a crazy thought. In order to reach the apple on the tree that was too high for my grasp, all I had to do was get on someone’s shoulders and I could reach it.

Here’s a crazier thought. In order to reach the world with the Gospel, we need churches willing to let other churches stand on their shoulders to reach where they cannot otherwise reach.

That’s why church planting exists. That’s why Allentown Bible Church is a church plant composed of people who desire to plant churches in the future as well.

And we need help. We can’t succeed on our own. We need you to pray, give, help, and support us as we take the gospel where you can’t. And we pray that someday we can let another church stand on our shoulders as well.